With any luck, I?ll be turning out at Edgbaston in the second Test against Sri Lanka that starts tomorrow.

As at Lord?s I?ll have to wait to see what kind of attack the selectors go for, and obviously that will hinge largely on how they think the pitch is going to play.

They?ve given themselves another option by calling up Glamorgan?s Simon Jones, who is probably the quickest bowler available to them at the moment.

He?s had some injury problems but he?s very athletically built, has a nice whippy action off a short run-up and is a very slippery customer.

He obviously made a big impression during his Academy stint in Australia last winter with Rod Marsh comparing him to Jeff Thomson, no less.

That?s a lot to live up to and he will obviously come under a bit of pressure now that people are judging him as an England prospect.

But I?m sure that the selectors will be anxious to protect him as much as they can. Genuine raw pace is a very prized attribute - it can worry the best of batsmen - and you have to try to harness people like Simon, Steve Harmison and Alex Tudor when you get the opportunity.

Whatever the shape of the team tomorrow, I?d like to think that England go into the game with something of a psychological advantage, having been on the back foot for three-and-a-half days at Lord?s but then fighting back well with the bat and showing some good new-ball aggression in the final session.